Letter handed to emperor causes uproar in Japan

TOKYO - The Associated Press

This file picture taken on October 31, 2013 shows Japanese actor and a member of the House of Councillors Taro Yamamoto (3rd L) handing a letter to Emperor Akihito (C) during the annual autumn garden party at the Akasaka Palace imperial garden in Tokyo. AFP PHOTO / FILES

A novice Japanese lawmaker who wanted to draw attention to the Fukushima nuclear crisis has caused an uproar by doing something taboo: handing a letter to the emperor.

The ruckus began at an annual autumn Imperial Palace garden party last week. As Emperor Akihito and his wife, Michiko, greeted a line of guests, outspoken actor-turned-lawmaker Taro Yamamoto gave the emperor the letter - a gesture considered both impolite and inappropriate.

Video of the encounter, repeatedly aired on television, shows the 79-year-old emperor calmly taking the letter, written on a folded "washi" paper with ink and brush, and briefly talking with Yamamoto. An apparently wary Empress Michiko gently pulled her husband's elbow from behind. The chief steward, who was standing next to Akihito, grabbed the letter the instant the emperor turned to him.

Yamamoto's action drew criticism from both ends of the ideological spectrum and left many Japanese baffled by what they consider to be a major breach of protocol: reaching out to the emperor in an unscripted act.

Divinity of royals

The controversy shows how the role of Japan's emperor remains a sensitive issue, nearly 70 years after Akihito's father, Emperor Hirohito, renounced his divinity following Japan's defeat in World War II and became a symbol of the state.

Many conservatives still consider the emperor and his family divine ("the people above the clouds") and believe a commoner shouldn't even talk to him. Decades ago, commoners were not even allowed to directly look at the emperor, but today Akihito does meet with ordinary people, including those in disaster-hit areas in northern Japan.

There is no specific law, but people are not supposed to talk freely to the emperor, touch him or hand him something without permission. Taking a cellphone picture of the emperor or his family also is considered impolite.

Upper house president Masaaki Yamazaki summoned Yamamoto Nov. 8 and reprimanded him verbally. He also barred him from future palace events, after a house committee determined the disciplinary steps earlier in the day.

The 38-year-old lawmaker, who was elected in July as an independent, has apologized for troubling the emperor but rejected calls to step down.

Yamamoto, an anti-nuclear activist, said he wanted to make an appeal to the emperor about the crisis in Fukushima and its possible health impact on residents and workers cleaning up the power plant, which suffered three meltdowns after it was devastated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
 
Neither Yamamoto nor the palace has released the letter’s contents.

"My behavior was indiscreet for a place like the garden party," Yamamoto said at a news conference Tuesday. "I just wanted the emperor to know the reality. I was frustrated by not being able to achieve any of my campaign promises yet."

If Yamamoto sought the emperor’s assistance, he may have violated a law requiring Cabinet approval for such requests. Yamamoto denied any intention to use the emperor for political purposes - a possible infringement of the postwar Constitution, which relegates the emperor to a non-political, ceremonial role.